


Making A Real Friend

by Sonic The Hedgehog (trx)



Series: Making A Real Friend [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Best Friends, Caring, Cute, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hedgehogs, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, Love, Multi, Original Character(s), Personal Favorite, Pop Culture, Science Fiction, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22904305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trx/pseuds/Sonic%20The%20Hedgehog
Summary: Lot's of fluff and feelings you don't want to miss out on <3Sonic decides it's time to reveal himself to someone and finally make a real friend.What would happen if that person was a nerd like you and me, and not a normie like Tom?Will Sonic find the kind of deep friendship he is looking for?
Relationships: Maddie Wachowski/Tom Wachowski, Sonic the Hedgehog & Original Character(s)
Series: Making A Real Friend [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643488
Comments: 23
Kudos: 95





	1. Star Prince

Longclaw’s words and worries had been echoing in his mind for the past two weeks. Yet for the first time in his life on Earth, Sonic ignored them. It was after a particularly lonely night that he decided on a new quest for himself.

Movie nights had taught him many things about humans, one of which was that even E.T. had a friend until men in suits got wind of it. The odd space creature and even a bear named Pooh always had someone. And if Rocket Raccoon was any indication, even a mean trash panda with the attitude of a chainsaw could end up with a found family of rag tag space heroes. So why shouldn’t he? It just needed to be the right person. One special person he could trust.

But choosing someone was nerve wracking…

Perched on the top of a blue building to blend in, Sonic was observing the main street.

“Donut Lord,” the spacehog said to himself, “he’s fun to mess with at the speed trap, and he’s a good guy.”

But Sonic could already picture the man screaming. It did hurt a little but his favorite person was likely not the ideal one to approach right away.

“Face it, Sonic”, he said, sighing. “You don't know how he'd react.”

And so his mind went on, considering other options. For a brief moment, Sonic considered the Beer Bear, a local barkeeper who must’ve heard so many weird stories in his life that he might not react too badly to a real one.

Sonic dashed across the rooftops until he was right on top of the bar. Crazy Carl was just exiting, a string of laughter following him outside.

“Right. He already knows all the stories about me,” Sonic mumbled. “And he’d totally talk about me to his patrons.”

Plus, the man never got drunk despite his profession, meaning Sonic wouldn’t be able to present himself in a moment of stupor to gauge what a sober reaction would be like and to have deniability if it went wrong. Beer Bear was big, plump, and old. Not at all what Sonic was imagining in a friend.

He looked up and into the distance. “Actually,” he said, feeling a pang of excitement in his chest, “the story part is still a good idea. I need someone who’s heard it all. Someone very much used to the thought of … me.”

He paced around the roof, once again considering a certain person that had been on his mind for two weeks, occasionally stopping to tap his paw like a gentle sledgehammer.

If there was _one_ person in Green Hills he was always coming back to, it was the Star Prince. Sonic had real trouble deciding on whether to approach him or not.

Star Prince was a young man, not too much older than Sonic himself, and the only one in town who did not laugh or even grin at Crazy Carl. He was equally smart and nerdy, certainly the prince of nerdhood in this town, so if Sonic wanted to see science-fiction or something fantastical for movie night, he knew where to go.

And so he did, this time in daylight, dashing further across town, to the western end near the forest. He soon came upon the lonely house he was looking for. The branch on which he was sitting was shaking in tandem with his own excitement.

“It would be _sooo_ great,” he muttered, drawing his hands close to his chest.

Someone in love with the idea of aliens would know what to do and likely just treat him normally after the initial surprise. That was exactly why Sonic had been so antsy lately. It was this nagging, unrelenting hope, there might be one person for him right here. _His_ person.

Peering through the window from his position, he spotted a Rocket Raccoon plushy on the couch that really did not make things easier. It should be HIM on that couch.

“Great,” Sonic deadpanned, running a hand over his face. “I’m jealous of a plushy of my latest favorite character.”

A character just as different and lonely as him.

The branch started creaking in agony from all the motion, surprising the hedgehog and making him jump to a different one.

Was he really that antsy? The more time he had spent observing the Prince, the more he grew to like him, and the harder it became to control himself.

Like Sonic, the Prince was a bit of a recluse and on his own, spending a lot of his time at the computer and playing with his dog. Sonic had never figured out what Star Prince actually did for work but it most likely involved said computer. Only virtual ties to the outside and no reason to go to a physical workplace. It seemed ideal.

But there was one problem with all of this.

The Prince tended to go for walks where Crazy Carl had reportedly seen the Blue Devil. It was no coincidence. And boy was he observant, spotting and defusing left-over traps from Carl and naming birds out loud that he was hearing, all the while gazing through the forest for a sign of blue.

Sonic sighed. “Either he’s a friend, or he puts my face online,” he whispered.

A silent sadness befell him once more. Would he never be able to show himself to anyone?

What was the price of this safe life of his? Being lonely and completely touch-starved? Not even knowing what a hug feels like? Being unable to talk to someone and go to places together? No way to share what he can do and what he has to offer?

“Everything,” he heard himself say. If even the Prince should turn out to be too much of a risk, what chance would anyone else have?

Sonic was searching his feelings, looking for a reason, something to push him over the fence he was sitting on. He needed something to help him decide how and when to say hello - and what to do if it went wrong.

Before anyone could have known, the Blue Blur moved down from his tree and positioned himself right below a kitchen window. Peeking through it, a Welsh Corgi was staring right back, smiling that winning Corgi smile that Sonic found hard to look away from.

“Hey there, Smiley Face!” Sonic said, grinning. “Is the Prince keeping you waiting for your afternoon walk?”

The Corgi barked in a friendly manner, not at all phased by the visitor. Sonic was a sight he had known for a while, starting one particular movie night when he spotted the hedgehog at the living room window.

“Bowie!” a voice called. “We’ve had this dog door for over a week, buddy! You can go outside whenever you want!”

Sonic blurred over to different windows, switching them so quickly that no one could’ve seen him until he found one that was safe to stay at.

A young man was pacing around the living room, seemingly in deep thought. On his computer, a story was opened up that he was writing. If the amount of white space was any indication, he had real trouble coming up with ideas today.

Sonic knew it was just a pastime, but one that the Prince cherished. And he wished he could read every last word of it. But getting inside the house had been really troublesome and he was scared the stories might be funny and make him laugh out loud.

The Prince stopped pacing to glance into the kitchen, wondering what his dog was up to. “Aaalright, we can go,” he said in an amused tone, observing the Corgi with a calculated look in his eyes. Bowie was still sitting at the window, looking around for a Blue Devil that was no longer there.

Sonic could swear the Prince was somehow putting this together in his head right now. Suddenly, he felt really exposed.

“Come one,” the Prince said. “I need to get some fresh air, anyway. And there’s something I’ve been meaning to do all week.”

As Bowie jumped off the counter, a strange feeling settled in Sonic’s belly. What in the world was the Prince planning to do out in the forest?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Star Prince represents all of us nerds, even though it's also an exploration of how I myself would interact with Sonic and treat him. I'm looking to explore a deep friendship between these two rascals instead of making Sonic an adopted alien child.  
> Please let me know what you think <3


	2. You Are Safe With Me

Sonic was an expert at keeping out of sight. Even observing people up close and watching movies right from outside their homes was child’s play for the speedy hedgehog.

As Bowie and Star Prince walked through the forest, Sonic stayed nearby. The two of them came out here a lot, looking for the Blue Devil. Sonic usually followed them around, always curious about how they approached their little quest. Between the bird songs and rustling leaves, his motions were nearly inaudible. Sometimes he would stop on a branch, sometimes behind some rocks or bushes. He did have to be careful, though, because one thing he could not fool was a dog’s nose. 

“This way, Bowie,” the Prince said, moving off the path where few people other than him ever went.

The Prince was wearing a shirt that depicted green tree silhouettes on a blue background, a sight that made Sonic feel strangely at home. A memory of his early childhood came to him, a warm feeling of checker board grasses and loopings.

“You know,” the Prince said to no one in particular, calmly walking. “I know Carl is not crazy.”

Surprised, Sonic stopped in his tracks for a whole microsecond before moving on.

“The only thing you can ever talk about is what’s likely or not,” the teen went on. “Would all of Carl’s traps spring on their own? Does he hear voices and see things all at the same time? Not likely. And then, there are these.”

He came to a halt and pointed to a spot between the leaves, silently asking Bowie to take a sniff. A shoe print was there, several in fact, further spread apart than human legs would be able to reach.

“What do you think, Bowie?”

The Corgi smiled up at him.

“Smaller than mine, right? Must be a kid. Alone. At Night…in the forest.”

Sonic’s heart was beating even faster than it normally did. He stopped behind a tree, pressing himself against it and breathing hard. If anything, he needed to know which mistakes to avoid from now on. So, there he stood, listening.

“You know, there is a moment when you run where both are off the ground,” the Prince said with a bemused calmness that actually made Sonic relax a little. “You kinda fly forward in that moment, covering ground without touching it, depending on how fast you are. This kid must be unnaturally fast, doesn’t he? Look how far apart these tracks are!”

Bowie tilted his head, then looking into the distance, listening to something or nothing. Sonic held his breath.

The Star Prince reached into his pocket, unseen by Sonic who was reconsidering the habit of wearing shoes but knew he’d just leave alien paw prints all over the place if he ditched them.

When Sonic looked at him again, the Prince was sitting at a tree, leaning against the stem. He placed a small cupcake on the ground, right in front of the footprint.

Sonic switched to a different spot to get a better look. Something was written on the cupcake in blue frosting. It was too far away to read.

“I have a large dog door now,” the teen said, wind playing around his light brown hair. “You need a chip to enter. I’ll turn that off when I get home.”

It became clear to Sonic that Star Prince was not actually talking to Bowie. It seemed he was wildly guessing, and hoping, that whoever or whatever was out there would be listening. There was such a familiar yearning for connection in this act that it hit Sonic square in the chest.

“Well,” the Prince said with a deep sigh, getting up. “Come on, buddy! Let’s run the path around the old mill.”

Bowie jumped and let out a string of high-pitched barks. Together, they ran back to the trodden path they had left before.

Sonic remained for a moment, then followed just to see if they were actually going away and not just pretending. They looked happy – Bowie certainly did.

When he was satisfied, Sonic returned to the tree and his old tracks. There he stood, looking at the cupcake from afar as though it was the gate to a new life he was about to open.

But then, a giddiness spread within him and a smile across his face. In a supersonic swoop, he picked up the sweet and raced back to his cave.

No one had ever given him a gift before, he thought on the way. It may not have been directly in person but it made his heart swell more than he could have ever put in words.

It was a simple act, a little thing that touched emotional spots he didn’t know he had. Like seeing the color red for the first time after seeing black and white for a decade. He was so alone that the lack of interaction felt normal - as though it was the way of the world.

When he arrived moments later, he let himself fall into his beanbag, and finally looked at the gift clutched in his hands.

“You are safe with me,” the lettering said.

And Sonic, for the first time in years, felt himself unable to move as he trembled and tears slipped from his big innocent eyes.

* * *

It was getting dark out when Sonic returned to the lonely house. The lights inside were dim, not too bright to make it a bit less stressful for the expected visitor. It allowed Sonic to hide a little and not expose himself too much.

Sonic had made up his mind. Everything became clear to him the moment he’d read that message, and more so when he relished the taste of a sweet made just for him.

His determination didn’t help his nerves, though. Wearing newly stolen gloves and the best-looking broken shoes he owned, he felt both ready to go in and also ready to run as far away as he could.

“Heh,” he chuckled before blurring between another spot and back. Pointing at his other self, he said: “Get yourself together, Sonic. He’s nice! You may finally make a friend!”

The other version of him ran both hands down his cheeks. “I know!” it said. “But the pressure! What do I say to him?”

“How about a quote from Speed?” the first Sonic suggested.

“No, no, no! It would need to be a sci-fi quote!”

“I am Groot?”

“Nooo, he’ll think my name is Groot!”

The two Sonics split into three as one of them considered to just sheepishly peek around a corner with puppy eyes.

“That could work,” the new Sonic thought out loud.

“Oh no,” another one said. “Smiley Face is going to bark before you can even do anything.”

All the Sonics merged again.

“For the love of cupcakes, just do it already,” he said and took a deep breath, blurring over to the door.

Peeking to the windows, he checked if anything was peeking back. But he figured the Prince was not going to be so sneaky if he was trustworthy, even if it was hard for him to contain his curiosity.

Sonic gently pushed against the dog door, lifted the lid silently, and slipped inside. A soft sigh escaped him when it didn’t lock behind him.

The whole place was bathing in a low orange light. Right next to the door, another cupcake was sitting on the floor. “Welcome,” it said, making Sonic’s heart swell yet again and ease his tension a little.

He snuck to the corner of the hallway and looked into the living room, a pair of emerald eyes and one twitching ear visible from the other side. The Prince was sitting on the couch, typing away on his notebook.

“WOOF!”

The sudden bark startled both of them. Sonic drew his head back, his heart skipping a beat as he got jumped from the side by a slobbering Corgi that definitely must have had more than one tongue to attack with.

“Whah!” he exclaimed, covering his mouth but ended up giggling in the onslaught of licks to his face.

The Prince smiled and got up slowly. “That’s alright, Bowie. He’s a friend, okay?” he said before he had even set eyes on Sonic. Internally, the late teen was cooking with excitement and surprise that this was actually happening.

Somewhere between suppressed giggles and the white fear of exposing himself, Sonic heard the word “friend” and all time seemed to stop. For a moment, everything in his mind went quiet. Then everything came back, but he pushed himself away from Bowie and zipped past the Star Prince, hiding behind the couch.

“Whow, what was that?” the Prince said, turning around after the blur. “Aah, Bowie? Go.” He pointed to a dog bed down the hallway to which the dog went and lay down. But he was still antsy and didn’t look like he was going to stay there.

Silence.

“You _are_ fast!”, the Prince said. “So that’s how you stay hidden, am I right?”

Again, a pair of emerald eyes and two pointy blue ears became visible. “H-hello,” he said, mentally rolling his eyes at the final plumpness of his greeting. To make up for it, he stepped out from behind the couch and showed all of himself.

And he was greeted with a smile.

“Heh,” the Prince said, gesturing to the couch. “Come on, let’s get to know each other, okay?”

Sonic swallowed a lump. A sense of his usual energy returned to him, feeling more confident about the future and the hope - oh the hope - it was too much. It filled him like a swelling balloon.

“Well, I’ll sit,” the Prince said after a moment as he sat down. “You can jump around if you are too excited right now.”

“Oh man,” Sonic blurted out with exuberance, “you already understand me so well, Star Prince! Where is this going to go?! Oh! I’m Sonic, by the way.”

“Sonic?”

“Yeah!” Sonic was looking at his new companion like he was very proud of his name.

“I’m Allen, and…wait, why are you calling me Star Prince?”

Sonic chuckled and pointed at the Rocket Raccoon plushy right there on the couch. “I kinda observe everyone from time to time,” he said. “When you moved in here, you watched that movie a lot. Saw it through the window and liked it, so I sometimes came back for your movie nights!”

Allen gaped at him. “But that was last year! How long have you been around?”

And so, they started talking about Sonic’s origin on Mobius, his days on South Island, Longclaw, and how he spends his days on Earth.

It was the middle of the night when they found themselves just laying on the carpet, staring at the ceiling. Bowie was sleeping soundly.

“So basically, I am Green Hills’ lovable space creature,” Sonic said. “Just not invited and invisible.”

Allen turned where he was laying and looked at the hedgehog. “That must’ve been really lonely.”

A single blue spark flashed on Sonic’s back, startling Allen.

Sonic, however, did not notice. “Yes,” he said with a breaking voice. “Yes, it was. It is.” He looked back at Allen as if asking him to do something about that.

“You are charming, you know?”

“Really?” Sonic raised an eyebrow and seemed really surprised by that. “But of course!” he went on, laughing. “I am the king of all charm!”

Allen smiled at his antics. “It’s true,” he said. “And honestly cuter than I can handle.”

“Now you’re playing with me,” Sonic said, jumping up and zipping around. The grin on his face was so bright he felt embarrassed by it. “I’m a loose cannon!”

“Oh, _that_ I believe!” Allen said, barely suppressing a laugh himself. “Running around with a turtle? Snatching gloves from stores in the whole county? If you didn’t need to be so careful, I think the pranks would never end!”

“Wouldn’t that be glorious,” Sonic said in a dreamy voice, smiling widely. He sat next to Allen and looked down at him. “And you, you…well…I’m glad I chose you. You’re my favorite person now.”

“More favorite than the Donut Lord?”

Sonic nodded. “Well I am here, am I not? I like the Donut Lord a lot but he’s…well.”

“A normie?” Allen concluded. “Trustworthy and nice for sure, but first contact with an alien race? Yeah, that’s problematic. But with my help, maybe we can get you two in touch at some point.”

Sonic thought about that for a moment. “Hmmh,” he hummed. “One person is already stressful enough for now. And dangerous. But I’d like that if it’s safe.”

A somber mood settled between them. A quiet moment that brought back the sense of loneliness that permeated Sonic’s existence. So much life, so much energy, yet no one to share it with.

“Would you like to stay here tonight?”

Emerald eyes gazed at Allen in surprise. Sonic’s bottom lip was trembling before he could speak. “Really?”

“Please.”

It took a moment for Sonic to react, for the emotions to bubble up. When they did, he zipped around the room, laughing happily and finally launching himself at the friend he had just made. A real friend, it seemed.

Both of them ended up chuckling on the carpet.

“Boy, I’m glad these quills are so soft and blunt,” Allen said after he collected himself, running a hand through the pokey-pokeys on Sonic’s back. “For a second I got scared there. “

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Sonic said, sitting up as straight as a candle. “I forgot about that!”

“But you do know they spark sometimes, yes?”

“No, why would they spark?” Despite what he said, Sonic instinctively looked at himself, as if to check whether he was wrong.

“They did earlier!” Allen pressed. “Are you sure you know all the powers you have?”

They both looked at each other.

“Okay,” Allen said, making a stop gesture. “Six years on Mobius, twelve years on Earth. You’re an adult at this point, I’d say. And you had no guidance while your powers developed in unknown ways. Tomorrow, we’ll start to figure out exactly what you can do. Have you ever seen the movie Shazam?”

“Oooh,” Sonic said, “you mean the scene where the boys test around with Shazam’s powers to find out what he can do?”

“Exactly that!” Allen said as he got up. “Now, I’ll get us two sleeping bags and suggest we sleep right here. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out how to measure your speed and anything else that we can come up with.” He stopped in his tracks for a moment, looked back at Sonic and added: “Together.”

The smile that Sonic sent his way could’ve melted anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment and let me know what you think <3


	3. No Normies Allowed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These two adorable rascals have some real chemistry going on, and it looks like they both needed each other.

It was a strange night for Sonic, who had only known his cave up until this point. Tonight he had a warm house around him, a real companion, and two sleeping bags in the middle of the living room that made it feel like the special occasion that it was. Sleep came slowly despite the late hour. He found himself laying on his side, looking at his friend for a while before he finally drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

When Sonic awoke the next morning, Allen was already up and about. He opened one eye groggily and froze. Where was he? He instantly turned into a ball and spun deeply into his sleeping bag, his heart almost jumping out of his throat.

“Oooh, right,” he said as he remembered, sighing with relief.

When he rolled out of the bag and sprawled out, he heard the sound of someone rummaging through a box up on the first floor.

“Hey, Princey?” he called, only managing to make Bowie run at him with that deadly tongue of his waving in the wind.

“Oh no,” Sonic said, laughing. “No, no, no. You’ll have to catch me first, Smiley Face!”

Somewhere in the house, Allen was chuckling.

Sonic materialized on an armchair, making Bowie change course and jump at it. “Nope!” the Blue Blur exclaimed happily before the dog got to him. He disappeared into thin air and showed up on the living room table, knocking a few things down on the floor.

Not quite minding the mess they were making, Sonic went through every spot the room had to offer, all the while being followed by the little Corgi.

“I’m better than a ball toy, am I right?” Sonic said, grinning down from the top of the couch before he blurred someplace else.

At some point, he noticed Allen standing in the doorway and stopped in his tracks. The Prince was aiming at him with something that looked like a laser gun.

“What’s that?” he asked, not believing that it was what his comic book filled brain was thinking.

“This,” Allen said as Bowie bounced into Sonic who had momentarily forgotten what he had been doing, “is a piece of crap! It says you’re going at 99 miles an hour.”

“A speehehet meheheter?” Sonic managed to say, laughing from the licks to his face.

“A slow meter is what it is,” Allen replied, shaking the device and checking the buttons to see if it had any higher range options than that. “I have to say, if a few licks mess you up this much, then you are delightfully ticklish, Sonic.”

Even as Bowie let go of him, Sonic kept giggling in embarrassment.

“I’ll have to order a better one later,” Allen said. “Something professional, I guess.”

Sonic got up to put on his shoes. “When I mess with Donut Lord”, he said, “his meter goes to 300 and maxes out. No idea how fast I can go but it’s way more than that.”

“So, any meter won’t do then.” Allen already had a new idea as he observed his friend. “Okay, let’s go to the straightest piece of road we can find. Somewhere away from people! I do have a GPS tracker for Bowie that I haven’t used in a while. And we can also use my phone to track you when you run around with it.”

As it turned out, it was even more exciting for Sonic to ride in an actual car than to find out how fast he could run. Not that he didn’t care for the latter but cars were one of the many things he had wanted to experience for years.

It didn’t even bother him how slow it was. In fact, it felt curious to him to move around without the need to do anything for that to happen.

“So,” he said, munching on a sandwich, “I’ve told you a whole lot about myself. And I still can’t even figure out what you actually do, Allen. It’s a workday!”

“I recommend stuff,” Allen replied, looking around for people who might notice the alien hedgehog on his passenger seat. “Online, I mean.” He took a glance at Sonic, who looked rather confused.

“How does that work?”

“Well…” Allen had to think about how to explain that to a cave-dweller. “You build a cute little website about stuff that you use, you make a few top lists, you compare things, and after some technical magic and time, lots of people find it and the ads pay nicely. Like, I made a big site about dog stuff when I got Bowie.”

The Corgi barked on the back seat.

“You know,” Allen said as he turned the car and left the town behind them, “good dog beds, foods, flea collars, and anything you can think of.”

Sonic looked at him with an expression as if he had just seen a cow flying a blimp. “That’s so unusual.”

Allen chuckled. “Not really,” he said. “It’s quite normal today, given how big the web is. But in Green Hills, I guess it really _is_ unusual. This is a town where foxes and rabbits still say goodnight to each other. People out here are more hands-on than digital. Someone like me normally lives in the city but I prefer nature. That’s why I moved out here when I left my parents’ house last year. It’s green and beautiful. The perfect place!”

“It IS the perfect place!” Sonic exclaimed, almost jumping off his seat.

Such excitement for this little town made Allen feel good about his choice for coming here. Still, he looked at his friend with a thoughtful expression. “Honestly, it’s as if every day was a Saturday,” he said. “It’s a great lifestyle but I barely need to do anything, and that means I get bored a lot.”

Sonic looked at him a little sheepishly. “I know what you mean. That’s why I ran around with a turtle that one time. Entertaining yourself can be hard.”

“Yeah. The truth is, I’m probably just as lonely as you,” Allen said, gazing into the distance ahead as he drove on the empty country road. “And just as bored.”

They shared a moment of silence, listening to the engine.

“I want to stick with you,” the hedgehog said quietly. When Allen looked at him, he started babbling quickly. “We ease each other’s boredom, a-and we are not alone anymore, and we can watch movies, and play pranks on people, and be best friends, and-”

“I’d love to stick with you,” Allen said, shutting him up. “For good.”

Sonic beamed at his friend. It was hard for him to contain himself, stuck in this car, unable to run and jump around like he was feeling. And why did his eyes burn so much right now?

“If anything,” Allen continued. “I’d like to cultivate something very special.”

Sonic was rocking back and forth on his seat, filled with energy and feelings that needed to burst out. “How do we do that?”

“By not being normies,” Allen said as he parked the car on sandy spot at the edge of the road. Turning to his blue friend, he explained, “A fist-bump friendship would be lacking, and that’s all you can expect from most people. Eventually you’d miss a deeper connection with real trust and less distance. Something more personal. You’d feel lonely again. So, lots of cuddling, lots of quality time spent together, lots of trust, and no normies allowed.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Sonic said, nodding continuously at lightning speed. “Oohohoho, Princey, if you think Smiley Face is soft and cuddly, you have not experienced the amazing fur of a blue mobian hedgehog.”

Internally, said hedgehog was about to burst. “This loose cannon can kick back a notch and will allow some cuddles,” he added.

“Let me guess”, Allen said, grinning, “you haven’t had a hug in a dozen years and are dying for it.”

Sonic stopped moving momentarily, smiling sheepishly.

“Well,” Allen said, opening the door. “How about after we’re done exploring and playing with your powers, we huddle up on the couch tonight and watch whatever you want. You get to choose a movie for a change.”

“SPEED!” Sonic blurted out a little too quickly. “I haven’t seen that one in ages! Keanu is a national treasure!”

Allen laughed as he got out. “Speed! I could’ve guessed that one.”

* * *

The two friends spent a good hour trying to figure out Sonic’s top speed. But it seemed the maximum was always out of reach for one reason or another. They tried measuring the time it took Sonic to run a mile of road, letting him carry a phone and using a stopwatch app. While Sonic was quick enough to hit the button at the right times, the app responded too slowly to be accurate and the mile was too short. At the speed of sound, Sonic just needed five seconds for that distance.

“According to this,” Allen said later, fiddling with his phone, “good running shoes wear out after 500 miles at best.”

“I probably do that in half an hour,” Sonic said as he blurred around his friend like an electron in an atom. “See? I got holes in these!” He stopped and lifted a shoe, which looked like a moon from below.

“Aaalright, putting new shoes on my shopping list,” Allen said without looking up. “Gotta figure out your size. Do you seriously kill a few pairs every day?”

Sonic stopped himself, thinking for a moment. “No, I actually limit myself a lot. And like you said in the forest, my steps are far apart so I don’t touch the ground as often in a mile as you would. If I’m careful, I can manage with two pairs a week.”

“Yeah, I’m _so_ getting a volume discount here,” Allen said, chuckling.

Sonic was having the time of his life. It was such a delight for him to show off his speed to a real friend - someone who seemed to have as much fun as he had. Ball dashing was especially surprising to Allen. It made him wonder if any of this was actually physics or pure magic. He was beginning to think it was the latter.

“Okay, are you ready for the thing you suggested?” Allen asked as he put away his phone. “That tree right over there is definitely dead. Needs to be removed, anyway. But don’t overdo it and hurt yourself just because I’m watching, alright?”

“Aah, pfff,” Sonic said, “That tree hasn’t met this chainsaw of a hedgehog yet. Watch and be amazed!”

Bowie was running past them, happily chasing something only he could see.

In the blink of an eye, Sonic turned into a blue ball. He spun around on the ground and, enveloped by a blue glow and accompanied by the crackling of electricity, shot off across the road. He smacked straight into the dead tree, breaking it on impact. Thankfully, it fell away from the road right into the forest.

Sonic unrolled himself but didn’t seem to get up.

“Oh no,” Allen huffed, rushing over to his friend, who looked like he was seeing a lot of stars right about now. He stumbled across broken branches, sat down, pulled Sonic’s head on his lap, and pet him gently between the ears. “You okay, Sonic? Talk to me…”

Sonic hummed faintly as if he was being disturbed in a deep slumber. After a few moments, his eyes fluttered open and his lips twitched slightly, as did his ears. “I uh,” he said, unable to contain the grin that was now spreading across his face, “I’m actually fine. Keep doing that.”

“Oh, harr harr, my sides are splitting,” Allen said, sighing. “Don’t scare me like that. I do care, you know!”

“Yes,” Sonic said weakly. His eyes opened fully. As he gazed up at his companion, a gentle blue light was shining within them. “You do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes the establishment of Sonic's and Allen's friendship. Look out for more stories ^-^  
> The way Allen lives is just how I live, so I'm writing that from experience :)


	4. Hug me, I need it

It was getting late in the afternoon but Sonic could not get enough of this day, let alone being out here in the middle of the woods with his first real friend. He was hopping from paw to paw, thinking of new ways to impress him. Now that he could show himself to someone, he really wanted to show everything.

But just a minute ago, he had impressed himself.

“Okay, I really did see the blue glow this time,” he said with excitement, trying to bring it back by hopping more forcefully. “It’s new! Definitely something I haven’t done before. Or…noticed.”

Star Prince was walking calmly beside him, Smiley Face following suit with an occasional bark. “And lightning,” Allen said, “something I probably shouldn’t stand too close to, so don’t try too hard!”

Sonic turned around to look at his friend, hopping backwards. It seemed he could skillfully move in any direction, by any means, and whether he looked where he was headed or not.

“Oh yeah,” the hedgehog said. “Your best friend from the woods is lightning in person! The Flash would be proud to lose a race against _this_ Lord of Thunder! Heh, see what I did there?”

“Another Marvel reference,” the one named Star Prince said in a playful tone, stepping over a big branch. “Aaand you are anointing yourself as the bestie! Is that so?”

Sonic looked at him quizzically, as if saying, “don’t you disagree.”

“Who knows what other friends I might have,” Allen went on teasingly. “Like the Corgi there behind us, other people in town, all my friends online…”

Sonic furrowed his brows and looked at him with a stern expression. “You tucked me into a sleeping bag last night,” he deadpanned. “Right next to you on your floor.”

The Prince laughed. “Oho,” he said. “I’ve had sleepovers many times in my life!” He was suppressing a grin but looked bemused, something Sonic would’ve been able to catch if he hadn’t been so rattled by that.

“Okay, this is an increasingly humiliating area of conversation,” Sonic said, almost stumbling over a rock, a momentary failing of his otherwise perfect agility and control. His emotions were his weakness, it seemed. “I _was_ going to invite you to _my_ place this time, but maybe we should go back to the car.”

“So _that’s_ where we’re going,” Allen said, “the Blue Blur’s secret lair! Dark and mysterious as him, perhaps? Nah, probably just as cute as him in the end.”

The little blush did not quite help Sonic to look as stern as he meant to. “Okay, I guess we _can_ go there,” he beeped, holding his breath for a moment. “Mmmmaybe … best animal friend?”

“Well, we humans are apes,” Allen said, „and I have other ape friends. Also, there is Bowie.”

The Corgi woofed.

At this point, Sonic’s expression had gone from a “don’t you disagree” to a rather pitiful “don’t you disagree… _please_.”

“But you know, those apes are fist-bump friends,” the Prince said gently, looking at his companion with one eye and a little smile. “You are not. _You_ are _very_ special.”

Sonic looked much too happy about that. With his energy restored, he continued hopping, grinning like the goofball he usually was. “Oh!” he said. “There it is! Come this way!”

He zoomed off past some rocks, making Allen and Bowie jog after him. In his mind’s eye, Allen imagined something like a nest in an uncomfortable cavern that was dirty and smelled of moss. Maybe, he mused, there would be a stack of worn-down shoes and some other items either stolen or collected over the years.

Sonic was waiting at the entrance, virtually beaming at him. “May I introduce, this is my home,” he said, bowing slightly and making a gesture towards a low entry point.

“Now I’m curious,” Allen said as he followed his friend inside, crawling through the opening.

“You might think it’s ugly in here,” Sonic said, jumping around his place. “Wild, handsome hedgehog living in the woods, yes? Nope! I’m living my best life in here!”

When Allen got up, he took a moment in stunned silence. It was neither smelly nor all that dirty. In fact, “It’s like a tree house,” he said. “Wait, you’ve got a ping pong table in here?!”

Sonic bounced to the table and played against himself. “Ha ha ha, wasn’t easy to get this in here. Took me a whole minute!” Having beaten himself in a matter of seconds, Sonic zoomed over to his bean bag and flopped down right next to Bowie, who had already taken a seat there and was yawning.

“So! What do you think?”

Allen looked up from the nunchucks he was now holding. All in all, one might call this place a nice hangout – for a kid or two maybe, to kill time in the afternoon on a Saturday. But living here? Being locked to this place every day? Alone? The idea of existing in this cave and without companionship gave Allen a feeling that was devoid of hope.

Sonic’s ears were a little droopy. He reacted faster to things than anyone else, and so it took only a moment for Allen’s silent gaze to transmit a similar feeling to him.

But it lasted only for a few seconds.

“It’s a cool hideout you have here,” Allen said in a more lighthearted tone, putting down the nunchucks and walking over to his friend. “Oh, and that’s a great comic collection over there!”

Sonic met him half way, slowly getting up from the bean bag. There they stood, looking at each other.

With a sigh, Allen gave him a small smile. “Come here,” he said gently, placing a hand on Sonic’s shoulder and kneeling down.

Before Sonic could process it, his speed and reflexes failing, two arms moved around him and pressed him close. It took his breath away. Almost instantly, his belly exploded with feelings that he had missed for over a decade. Feelings he had forgotten completely. It was like an itch that was getting scratched after he had tuned it out, only to realize it had been there all along to bother him every day.

Shaking a little, he hugged Allen back as far as his arms could reach and leaned into it, sighing deeply.

“I have a large sleeping bag, too,” Allen said calmly, making Sonic’s ears twitch. “We could share it and cuddle up tonight, hm?” He ran his fingers through the copious amount of fur and the interesting fin shaped batches that defined the hedgehog’s silhouette. “Don’t want to let go of you.”

Sonic thought his eyes really had a burning problem today. “Aheh,” he huffed suddenly, arching his back as Allen’s fingers sent a feeling rippling along his spine. “I’d like that,” he said, embarrassed of his sensitivity, something he had not yet known about himself. He liked it.

“After we watch Speed,” Allen said, leaning back and petting Sonic on the head.

Sonic chuckled and nodded. He felt like wax right now. It seemed pointless to try and get all those bubbly feelings out of him. So much for being a loose cannon. Who was he even fooling at this point?

“Smiley Face is going to get jealous,” Sonic said, relishing the scratches he was getting behind his left ear. “Come, I wanna show you the rest of this cave!”


End file.
